1st Cajun/Zydeco Experience @ Ardenwood Historic
Farm
A Cajun-Zydeco Music Festival was held at the Ardenwood
Historic Farm on September 27th and by all accounts it was
a huge success. The festival site is actually a working
farm. As you drove in, you were confronted with a field of
orange pumpkins just waiting to be turned into
Jack-o-Lanterns. From the parking lot, it was a short walk
past fields and the old Patterson Mansion to the festival
site.
Booths were set up selling food, hand-made clothing &
jewelry, CDs & tapes and souvenirs from Louisiana. The
California Friends of Lousiana French Music, in addition to
fund-raising booth, had a large display featuring
educational materials about Cajun and Creole music
andculture. Next to the booths was an area shaded by trees
and filled with picnic tables. From here you could see the
bands and dancers while staying cool. A few yards further
was a real dance floor surrounded by a huge expanse of
lawn. The bands played in a trailer that was rigged to
double as a stage. It was a very effective and comfortable
arrangement.
The music of the day was provided by the Bay Area's finest:
Tete Rouge, Andre Thierry, Motor Dude Zydeco, California
Cajun Orchestra, and Tee Fee. The bands sounded great and
the large crowd enjoyed listening to the music and dancing
out in the fresh air. In addition, Frieda Fusilier told
stories as only she can.
The organizers at Ardenwood have said they would like to
make this an annual event and add some Lousiana bands to
the mix next year. What a wonderful addition this festival
will be to the Bay Area Cajun-Zydeco dance calendar!
10 Days In Louisiana
(May 1997) Where to begin? I just got back from 10 days in
Louisiana, first attending the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival, and then heading out to the Lafayette
area to visit some Cajun and zydeco shrines and attend the
Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival. I was able to dance every
night (& most days) except for 1! And met or was
reunited with some great dancers from across the U.S.
During my trip I saw Beau Jocque four times, Keith Frank,
Steve Riley, Rosie Ledet, Nathan,& File 3 times, Bruce
Daigrepont, Creole Zydeco Farmers & Balfa Toujours
twice, plus Geno, Boozoo, Chris Ardoin, DL Menard, Basin
Brothers, Paul Daigle, Lil Pookie, Robert Jardell, Sheryl
Cormier, Preston Frank, Roy Carrier, Horace Trajan, a jam
at the Savoy Music Center in Eunice and the Cajun Playboys
at Fred's Lounge in Mamou. I had to pass up on Step Rideau,
CJ Chenier, Sunpie, Terrance Simean, Walter Mouton, Bois
Sec & many more due to logistical problems. On our
second weekend, in Breaux Bridge, we were so exhausted by
Saturday night, that we decided to stay at the Crawfish
Festival to see Steve Riley rather than leave early &
drive to Opelousas to see Keith Frank a second time that
day at Slim's. If I had danced the additional 3 or 4 hours
that day, I would have done serious damage to myself! (Our
Saturday marathon began by heading out from Lafayette by
9AM to Mamou in order to be dancing by 10am at Fred's
Lounge. After an hour at Fred's (where I won, by virtue of
being from California, a gift of Cajun marinades and
seasonings), we left for the Savoy Music Center for the
jam; then out to the Crawfish Festival where we danced from
1pm til midnight, non-stop! Steve & the Mamou Playboys
were incredible playing for a home town audience - my
traveling partner- in- crime, Janine, thought it was the
best she'd ever seen him - I was too exhausted to be that
discriminating!. I was also impressed by Bruce Daigrepont
& File again. Another highlight from Breaux Bridge was
the small tent on Friday night where Preston Frank (on
accordian) was accompanied by his son Keith, on guitar.
They mostly played traditional acoustic Creole-Cajun tunes,
although Keith did perform and sing lead on one of his own
songs.
New Orleans and Jazz Fest held other, equally memorable
moments. Upon arrival in New Orleans on Wednesday night we
headed out to Mulates and caught the end of File's show.
Thursday night was Rock & Bowl/Bowl Me Under night with
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, Rosie Ledet, Chris Ardoin
and Willis Prudhomme all turning out great sets. It was
also reunion and getting to know you night as I met old
friends from festivals past and met new, great dancers from
around the States. Friday's festival line-up included Rosie
Ledet, Bruce Daigrepont (the first time I'd seen him -
outstanding set!), Geno Delafose and for non-C/z - James
Taylor and Dr. John. The first weekend in Jazz Fest should
have been renamed Mud Fest, because by Saturday it was
pouring rain, complete with lightning and thunderstorms.
This didn't deter us as we danced throughout it all to
Keith Frank in our pouchos, and improvised plastic
coverings. After that we spent some time watching Keb Mo
and then headed out, the inclement weather finally getting
to us. By Sunday , we were more experienced and had bought
mud shoes (actually Speedo surf shoes) to cope with the 4-6
inch deep mud-filled grounds. Worked quite well, and by
adjusting our footing and stepping patterns, we were able
to dance to Balfa Toujours, Beau Jocque, Creole Zydeco
Farmers and Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas.
Outside the festival, more great music was seen, heard and
danced to: Marcia Ball at Rock& Bowl, the Iguanas at
Cafe Brasil and Kermit Ruffins (three times - at the CAC
warehouse bash with Dr. John, at Donna's and for free at
the Louisiana Music Factory). Also danced in the aisles att
the Lousiana Music Factory to Steve Riley and Roy Carrier.
And did I forget to mention two other Rock & Bowl Pay
one Price events: Beau Jocque vs Boozoo on Sunday night,
and Steve Riley/Beau Jocque on Wednesday. The Mamou
Playboys were definitately cooking at all their gigs this
week - they sounded great and always looked like they were
having the time of their lives on stage - very hight energy
and great vibes.
Other great memories - in no particular order:
Seeing File at Mulates in Breaux Bridge. Janine and I were
the only dancers there among 3 busloads of tourists. During
the break I introduced myself and told them how great they
sounded at Eagle's last month. We wound up spending some
time speaking to David (piano) and Kevin (bass) and after
the break they dedicated a song to the 'girls from San
Francisco'. Felt just like a groupie, and at my age, too
(in dog years I'm dead!).
Beau Jocque at Poet's in Lafayette. The stage had a good
set-up, the club was air-conditioned, the dance floor was
ample, the acoustics were fine and there were quite a few
locals to dance with. For this trip, it was the best club
performance I'd seen for Beau Jocque (the best performance
was outside at Jazz Fest.).
Talking to Sid Williams at El-Sido's. I introduced myself
when we went to see Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas there
& sent him regards from one of his Bay Area friends,
Jim Philips. We wound up talking about the internet, family
and community. He also bought Janine and myself a round of
drinks,served in souvenir El-Sido plastic cups. I wore my
El-Sido's t-shirt to the club that night & he told me
it made him feel proud to see me in it. He was very
gracious & seemed like he had a good soul.
Dancing with some wonderful dancers including: Wayne, Gary
& Gary from DC, Louie from Chicago, Chubby Carrier's
rubboard player at Rock & Bowl, Chris and an
unidentifed man with a "Lick it Up" t-shirt from New
Orleans, Mark from Seattle, Jim from Denver, James from
Baton Rouge, a good dancer (forgot his name) from St.
Louis, some Lafayette locals at Poets, plus Jim, Geno,
Michael, Fernando, Mark, Dale and Frisco Freddy from
the.(or formerly from the) Bay Area.
Taking a cemetary/voodoo tour of New Orleans and a swamp
tour from Henderson. While we were waiting for the swamp
tour (at Angelle's), eating our oyster po-boys, the
proprietor came over with samples of his catfish etouffeee
for us to try, and told us that Steve Riley played
occassionally to crowds of over 450. I don't know how they
all fit in there!
Taking side roads to visit St. Martinville, the home town
of the Bay Area's Robbie & Shirley. We drove along a
levee road, asked for directions at a convenience shop and
was told ' go right at the red house, then go over 3
bridges - the third is a pontoon bridge - then look for a
split where the road turns gravel and goes over the levee.
Then follow that until you see a turnoff that is another
blacktop road, about 6 miles, which is the road to
Catahoula where there will be St. Martinville signs'. The
directions were accurate; more astounding than that - I
remembered & still remember them - and to top it off
there was a tiny little snowcone stand in Catahoula where
we had great home- made malteds for 75 cents. Thank
goodness the car was a rental.
Eating some great meals. We nicknamed this trip the Gumbo
and Bread Pudding tour, because we ordered those two items
at every restaurant we ate at, and started ranking them. I
highly recommend Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge - it had
the all-time #2 gumbo (#1 for this trip, #2 for all trips),
and the best bread pudding, plus a decent green salad (a
rarity in Louisiana). In New Orleans, I recommend Olivier's
for a nice meal (try the gumbo sampler) , the Gumbo Shop
for their red beans & rice, Crescent City Brewery for
their nouveau cuisine salads, Royal Cafe for their fresh
salads and oyster & artichoke soup and Felix's Oyster
Bar (across the street from Acme, with better food and no
lines)..
Heat and Dust and Festival Acadiens
Each time I travel to Louisiana, I am overwhelmed. There is
so much excellent music being performed by well-known
bands, by local bands & by improvised bands. The food
is great, the people are friendly, the weather is
unpredictable and there is never enough time to take it all
in. This time, my journey was planned around attending
Festival Acadiens in Lafayette, from Sept. 19-21.
This trip, started off dancewise, with two nights at Rock
'N Bowl in New Orleans. File on Wednesday night, and Geno
Delafose with French Rockin' Boogie on Thursday both
performed excellent sets to enthusiastic crowds. These were
also reunion nights, as dancers from around the country,
met up with friends & dance partners they had not seen
since prior festivals. I forced myself to leave early with
some friends on Thursday night (midnight) to head over to
Vaughn's to catch Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers,
knowing I would see Geno again at the festival. The Q was
fired up and so was Kermit. When we left at 2AM, he was
still going strong. So much music, so little time!
On Friday we drove to Lafayette to attend Downtown Alive.
Beausoleil and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas performed
outside to several thousand people dancing in the streets.
Then it was on to Hamilton's Club to see Zydeco Joe and the
Mamou Prairie Band trade off sets. I had never been to
Hamilton's or seen either band before, and all were happy
discoveries. Zydeco Joe in particular put on a great set.
The club was crowded, but not packed as festival goers had
to choose between Hamiltons, Nathan at El-Sidos, Cocteau
(with Michael Doucet) at Grant Street Dance Hall and Balfa
Toujours at La Poussiere in Breux Bridge. Around midnight,
I headed over to see Nathan and closed the club down at 2
pm with a lot of other happy, sweaty dancers. I also heard
Balfa Toujours put on an outstanding dance, from a few
folks who spent the evening there. .
The festival on both Saturday and Sunday was hot and dusty.
I remember thinking about the importance of fluid and not
overdoing it. Even so, every other dance was all I could
find energy for in the heat of the day, if that. At one
point I looked at my arms...someone asked me if I had
spilled water on them....nope, it was just beads of
sweat...I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower!
Despite the environmentals, the festival was great fun. The
main stage featured performances by Beausoleil, Geno
Delafose, Balfa Toujours, Thomas Fields, File, Horace
Trahan, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, Walter
Mouton, Richard Le Boeuf, Sheryl Cormier & Jackie
Caillier, Jambalaya, Kenneth Thibodeaux, Kevin Naquin and
the Lake Charles Ramblers. On the Heritage stage, I saw
Bois Sec Ardoin with Dirk Powell, Christine Balfa and
others. I also caught a Creole Fiddle Workshop with D'jaima
Garnier of File, Mitchell Reed of the Mamou Prairie Band
plus Zydeco Joe sitting in on the rubboard. This was some
of the best music I heard all weekend. I spoke to D'jaima
Sunday night about the session and he said that he &
Mitchell had spent a lot of time rehearsing their dual
fiddle repetoire. It was well worth their efforts. Another
highlight for me was seeing Lynn August playing Louisiana
Blues at the Louisiana Crafts show. August is someone I had
never seen before and always wanted to, and it was a shock
and a treat to wander into him at this venue.
Saturday night was more difficult club choices: File' and
Bois Sec Ardoin at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, Blackie
Forrestier at Randol's, Steve Riley & The Iguanas at
Grant St. Dance Hall, Beau Jocque at El Sido's and Keith
Frank at Hamilton's. I opted for Keith Frank and got there
early in hopes of avoiding the brunt of the crowds. This
strategy worked. For a while, the dance floor was
manageable, the music was great, and the crowd
appreciative. Around 11:30 pm however, zydeco grid-lock set
in, and some of us headed over to El Sido's to catch Beau
Jocque. The club was crowded as expected, but there was
still enough room to dance and lots of dance partners, so
it was a wise move. Beau Jocque put on a good set, too, and
afterwards, we had a lively conversation about who we liked
better that night.
On Sunday a few friends went up to Eunice for a small
benefit put on by Geno Delafose and JoJo Reed. They had a
great time there. I opted to stay in Lafayette for Festival
Acadiens (and Steve Riley, File, Walter Mouton, BeauSoleil,
Bois Sec Ardoin & Horace Trahan) and then headed over
to see File at Randol's. The place was packed with dancers
trying to get in their final dance fixes before heading
home. File played enthusiastically & a few of us did
our best to convince them to play the Bay Area again soon.
I had some great dances in what I think of as the local
style with a Sunday night regular there, who filled me in
on the Cajun dance scene.
All in all, a great trip with great music, old and new
friends, talented dance partners, terrific food, and just a
wonderful time. I'm already plotting my return....
Concretely Concord
Over Labor Day weekend, the Concord Pavillion hosted "A
Taste of Louisiana".The event featured three Louisiana
bands, Michael Doucet avec BeauSoleil, Geno Delafose and
French Rockin' Boogie, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band as
well as two California bands, Kent Menard & Zydeco
Blast and Gator Beat. My first impression was how well our
local acts sounded even when compared side-by-side to the
Louisiana-based bands. Of course, given that both these
California bands are fronted by Louisiana musicians, this
should not be a surprise. Also, it should be said that the
main stage acts were handicapped by some dreadful acoustics
at Concord. In front of the stage was a huge expanse of
concrete (aka the dance floor), and a metal roof overhead
the concrete and seats. The sound bounced off the hard
surfaces most annoyingly. Even BeauSoleil, a band
meticulous in getting their sound balance right, could not
overcome the problems with the venue. While their
musicianship seemed as solid as ever, the balance appeared
off and both instruments and vocals sounded terrible. Geno
Delafose did not fair any better sound-wise and his act was
similarly marred, despite his enthusiasm, showmanship and
rapport with the audience.
On the improvised side stages, the situation was much
better. Both Gator Beat and Kent Menard played early sets
and then performed again during breaks in the main stage.
Here, some decent dance floors were set up, and there was
both good dancing, good musicianship and much better sound
to be had. Louisiana Sue threw plastic crawfish from the
stage; Gator Beat threw beads. Quite a few of our local
dancers, dressed in red & black, attracted a large
crowd of spectators who enjoyed watching them pass a good
time.
"Roast Pollard"
The California Friends of Lousiana French Music and
Ashkenaz Music & Dance held a roast in honor of Danny
Poullard on July 19th. Danny has taught and influenced many
musicians at music camps across the country and locally at
his home. A partial list of the "Bay Area Poullard Alumni
Association of Friends and Proteges" include Agi Ban,
Maureen Carpen, Andrew Carrier, Frieda Fusilier, Mark
DeWitt, Elaine Herrick, Marty Jara, Girard Landry, Ed
Luckenbach, Walter Mahoney, Mark St. Mary, Linda Schmidt,
Sam Siggen, Andre Thierry, Suzy Thompson, Billy Wilson
& Kevin Wimmer. Like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful
Life", can you imagine the Bay Area Cajun/Zydeco scene
without Danny and his presence in this community?
No event is complete without some excitement and this party
had more than its fair share. The biggest unplanned event
was whether or not Danny would be able to attend! Turns out
Mr. Poullard had gotten bitten by a spider in West
Virginia, and was in the hospital with his leg up and
doctor's orders to stay put at roast time. An innovative
emergency technical team, lead by Jim Phillips at Ashkenaz
and Aura Sullivan in Danny's hospital room, managed to link
the pay phone in Ashkenaz (Jim claims by accident) to
Danny's hospital room to the speakers on stage, so that we
could hear Danny & Danny could hear the music and
tributes paid to him at the roast. Joe Simean saved the day
music-wise by playing the opening set. Later on, a line-up
of Danny's friends, and present & former pupils came on
stage to play a few numbers, including Marc & Ann Savoy
and Ken Smith who traveled from Louisiana to attend this
event.
The day's ceremonies included Frieda Fusilier, Cajun
humorist and story-teller, introducing Danny's mother and
family members present, recounting a brief history of
Danny's career, presenting an award to Danny's wife, Ruby,
for graciously having so many musicians in her home and for
"putting up with Danny", and reading a letter of
appreciation from Lee Richard, National President of the
prestigious Cajun French Music Association. Jim Phillips,
President of The California Friends of Louisiana French
Music, read Louisiana Senate Resolution # 121, a very
special commendation to Danny from the Senate of the Great
State of Louisiana for his contribution in preserving and
promoting Cajun and Creole culture outside of Louisiana.
In addition, Curtis Joubert, representative of the Lt.
Governor's Office of the State of Louisiana, former member
of the Louisiana Legislature, former member of the
Louisiana Public Service Commission, and long-time mayor of
Eunice, Louisiana, presented an award from the Lt.
Governor's office. Numerous friends got up and said a few
words and told some great stories about Danny. Finally,
CLFLM presented Danny with a new "Junior Martin" accordian
in B-flat, customized by Jim Bartz with the words 'Zydeco
Danny" inlaid in mother-of-pearl, and with a gator painted
across the bellows.
In between the formal program, there was lots of dancing
and good eatin' going on. A vegetarian potluck was held in
the back studio and folks went all out in their
contributions. For many of us, it was the first time we
were back in Ashkenaz since the memorial service for David
Nadel, and it felt good to be back. The walls had been
freshly painted, the daylight streamed in, and it was a
very good party and a very appropriate way to experience
our homecoming there.
Special thanks to Frieda Fusilier, Jim Phillips, Christy
Leichty, Shirley & Robbie Robertson, Aura Sullivan,
Cindy & Armando Molina, Judy and Hal Garcia and the
rest of the CFLFM Board and Membership for putting on such
an outstanding cultural event and coping so well with some
difficult circumstances, and to the staff at Ashkenaz (with
a special "Thanks" to Emily) for being so welcoming,
cooperative, cheerful and relaxed.
A Great 4th of July Week on the Bay-ou.
As a Cajun-zydeco music and dance fan, you can't help but
feel lucky to be living in the Bay Area these days. We are
really fortunate to have so many great local bands, plus a
constant.stream of Louisiana bands coming through to play
here. Over the past 7 days, I was able to dance 6 of them,
and on several dates had to make hard decisions on where to
go (some evenings visiting two two venues.) And, the
quality of the music was outstanding.
This year's long Fourth of July dance marathon started for
me on Tuesday night at Caribbean Spice where Gator Beat was
playing. This is a band that hasn't played that often in
the SF/East Bay metro center and they put on an incredible
show. With a great saxophone player and several original
compositions, Gator Beat is not afraid to take the
traditional repertoire and reinterpret it. The results were
refreshing and exhilarating. The crowd was cheering at the
end of the night - not a common occurrence here.
There was no dancing on Wednesday night, a situation soon
to be remedied by the reopening of Ashkenaz, which plans to
book C/z bands regularly on Wednesdays nights beginning
this September. Thursday night kicked off the holiday
weekend with Tete Rouge playing to a packed house at
Bobbie's. Since this set ended early, several of us (who
live in SF/Pennisula) then headed off to see the Zydeco
Flames at Barley & Hopps in San Mateo. A few dancers
were there & a nice dance floor awaited us in a classy
air-conditioned venue that featured no cover charge,
reasonably priced drinks, good acoustics & first class
bathrooms. The Flames put on a crowd-pleasing set. This is
a venue worth supporting should more C/z bands get booked
there.
On the fourth of July, many of us braved the parking lot
madness and headed to the Marin County Fair to see Steve
Riley & the Mamou Playboys. Two incredible sets made
every minute spent sitting in departing traffic worth it.
Every time I see Steve Riley I think they can't top the
last time I saw them & I get proved wrong. The variety
of styles, the musicianship, the range of instruments, the
sheer dancability, and the showmanship of this band is
tops. Plus, they ALWAYS look like they are having fun on
stage - grinning from ear to ear and getting off on the
crowd. I love this band. Can you tell? The highlight of the
two sets came during the encore this year. Daylight had
faded, and right after the band's set, fireworks were
scheduled to start. The Mamou Playboys first encore number
was an acappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It
was appropriate and awesome.
Saturday night the Mamou Playboys played again at Eagle's
Hall in Alameda. There must have been over 120 people
taking dance lessons when I arrived, plus all the regulars
and irregulars. Theplace was packed like sardines. I
couldn't see, let alone dance with, half the people I
wanted to. The performance was great and the energy level
of the crowd was high. Several times, the band members
remarked how great the crowd was & what fun they were
having playing here. A friend who had seen the Marin County
set thought they sounded even better at Eagle's than they
did at the Fair. Geez, I think I've lost my ability to
discriminate at this point - both places were rockin' and
everyone was grinning from ear-to-ear and sweating from
head-to toe. Did I mention, I love this band?
Sunday was a tough call dance-wise. Motor Dude Zydeco and
Bayou Pon-Pon at DeMarco's versus Tete Rouge at Bobby's.
From all reports, the dance crowd was about evenly split -
about 30 folks at DeMarco's, 35-40 at Bobby's. The potluck
at Demarco's included a banquet provided
by Betty. At Bobby's, Tete Rouge put on another chuggin'
set (chug-a- chug versus chank-a-chank? - whatever!)
Monday night was the time to head back to Eagle's hall to
see Boozoo Chavis with opening act, Motor Dude Zydeco.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but I heard the
music was good, the dance hall was filled and crowd was
happy.
And that's just what happened in the first seven days of
July....the rest of the month includes visits by JoJo Reed,
Mark & Ann Savoy with Kent Smith, Mark St. Mary and all
our local favorites....see you on the dance floor!
New Orleans by the Pay ...oops I mean Bay
I attended the 9th annual New Orleans by the Bay music
festival over the July 21st weekend. My first observation
is that you had to be able to overlook the outrageous
prices charged for everything from parking ($8) to bottled
water ($2.50) to Cafe de Monde beignets & cafe au lait
($3 EACH) to food stands (one booth charged $6 for about a
cup of rice ..er jambalaya) before you could have a good
time. Granted the admission charge was $12 before the
service charges kicked in, but the whole weekend seemed
marred by the price gouging..
From a Cajun/zydeco dance and music standpoint, Saturday
was the highlight. Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet and
Sunpie Barnes & the Louisiana Sunspots put on
incredible sets. Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie
played twice with Geno charming the crowd as always.
Shoeless Terrance Simean was also a crowd pleaser. There
was a large (14) contingent of San Diego dancers in the
crowd, easily identified by their San Diego Bon Temps Club
buttons, that we local dancers were happy to share some
good times with.
From a non-C/z perspective, the biggest audience turned out
for Los Van Van, a Cuban dance band that has topped the
charts there for over 27 years. Two years of negotition
took place between the US and Cuban govenments before the
band was allowed to play in the US. Incredibly, they lived
up to their advance press & put on a dynamic, exciting
show.
Sunday was a big let-down C/z dance-wise. Beau Jocque was a
no-show. The announcement said he had bus troubles.
Replacing him & therefore playing a double set was
Zigaboo Modeste, who was good but was no substitute for
Beau. Many folks commented to me that they they had come
just to see BJ, (some had never seen him before) and were
incredibly disappointed. Quite a few left soon after. On
the other hand, Terrance Simean played his best set of the
weekend on one of the small stages, where he could be less
the showman and more the musician. Sunpie played on a small
stage where the dance area was filled with jumpers. The C/z
dance crowd moved on to support a local band, Danny
Poullard & the California Cajun Orchestra where the
dance floor could be used for just that. The highlights of
Sunday, however, turned out to be the non-C/z events: the
Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir put on a rousing Sunday
morning performance; the Staple Singers and Soul Rebels put
on great sets; and to close theweekend, the festival
headliners, the Neville Brothers, had everyone on their
feet dancing to and cheering an incredible set. In fact,
the consensus was they redeemed the day.
Puget Sound Urban Dance Camp
An 'urban dance camp' was held in Seattle over the weekend
of June 13 to 15th and I was one of the lucky hundred fifty
or so dancers to have attended. Held at the Century
Ballroom in Seattle's Capital Hill neighbor, the featured
dance instructor was Michael Seider, from New Orleans, who
was assisted by Josie Breger. Josie had danced in New
Orleans for 5 years before moving to Los Angeles. Several
local dance instructors also taught. Evening dances,
featuring Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie on
Saturday & Sunday, and a local band, Captain Leroy and
the Culture Pirates, on Friday night, were held in the
Grand Ballroom, as were the the advanced classes. The
ballroom is a lovely space with a large wooden dance floor,
table seating along the perimetor of the room and a gilded
balcony that ringed the dancehall and a golden arch that
sets off the stage.
Unfortunately, I missed the Friday night events so can't
report on the events that night. On Saturday and Sunday I
attended the advanced sessions with Michael & Josie. I
had never seen Michael dance or teach before so did not
know what to expect. I found him to be a charismatic
teacher and wonderful dancer. He enjoyed what he was doing,
was able to explain and demonstrate the advanced steps in a
way that was easy to understand & follow, had a good
sense of humor and pacing, and maintained control of the
class that had over 70 participants in it. I also sat in on
one of his beginning classes and his instruction technique
was modified to match the skill level and learning speed of
the beginners. In addition, Josie was an able partner, with
a smooth, subtle style and a ready smile. The main classes
focused on advanced zydeco steps, techniques and styling
with some nouveau moves thrown in for variety. Also very
enjoyable was the one Cajun lesson that taught the
traditional Mamou waltz and the Baisse-Bas - a Creole dance
to a three-time beat that is dying out. I learned there are
only two songs which are appropriate to dance the
Baisse-Bas, Canray Fontenot's "Bonsoir, Moreau" and Boozoo
Chavis' "Gone A La Maison". It is also the only dance I had
to keep time to by counting to myself in order to not lose
the beat or the pattern.
Another highlight of both days was the time given to
appreciate Creole culture and cooking. Gumbo University on
Saturday was a panel discussion featuring Geno Delafose,
speaking about his father John and his and his father's
music, and Lousiana Sue, Michael Seider and Nell and Yvonne
Bergeron from SW Louisiana talking about Creole versus
Cajun history, music, dancing and culture. On Sunday,
Louisiana Sue gave a cooking demonstration.
I also attended both dances featuring Geno Delafose and
French Rockin' Boogie. Geno sounded as good as I've ever
heard him and the crowd was enthusiastic. Those of us who
had taken 4-5 hours of dance lessons both days were happy
to stop the formal instruction and just dance for a while,
even as we tried to incorporate some of what we learned
into our styles. I had some great dance partners both days
: special thanks to Michael Seider plus Kip, Marc, Bill
& Will from Seattle and Tony & Brett from the Bay
Area.
A few notable moments are also worth mentioning from the
Sunday afternoon dance. A couple brought their three small
children to the dance and took them over to meet Geno and
have their pictures taken with him. I think it was love at
first sight. The little girls kept climbing up on Geno's
lap and posing as if they were with Santa Claus. Geno was
grinning and hamming it up for the camera. You just had to
smile watching them. The other highlight was during the
first set on Sunday. A local rubboard player, Les "Dr. Les"
Berenson, joined the band on stage freeing Steve, Geno's
rubboard player, to dance. Steve is an incredible dancer.
His first partner was Josie and the dancing was inventive,
and at a extremely high intensity energy level. A crowd
quickly formed around them and Geno took notice. He played
long and hard, a marathon song, and Steve soon started
making hand motions patting his heart and looking at Geno
as if asking him to stop already. Of course, Geno didn't,
started grinning and played even longer and harder. Steve
didn't slow down, Josie kept pace with him...it was an
awesome display of stamina and dance style. Steve danced
another number with Deb Seeck from Salem, OR, a second,
equally talented dance partner. It was a treat to watch. .
All in all, it was a wonderful dance camp with great music,
a terrific dance teacher and an extremely welcoming dance
community. Thank you to all those who worked so hard to
organize this great event, with particular thanks to Laura
Taylor, Mary Lee Lykes, Rae Dinsmore and Felicia Maffia.
Thomas "Red Velvet Slippers" Fields??
Thomas "Big Hat" Fields and his Foot Stompin' Zydeco Band
played Eagles Hall in Alameda on Memorial Day to a packed
and enthusiastic crowd. The show was delayed for 45 minutes
because the band came straight from a gig in Las Vegas that
ended at 2:30AM. In the true spirit of "the show must go
on" they drove through the night to the Bay Area, where
they literally got out of the van, set up and started the
show. Fields cracked some jokes about playing barefoot in
his pajamas, and in fact, he played the entire night with
red velvet slippers on. And in case anyone was worried that
the band would be too tired to put on an energetic show,
they fretted in vain. The first set went almost 2 hours
without a break. Set 2 was another 90 minutes or so. And if
the band was tired, you couldn't tell from the dance floor.
Fields bantered with the audience between sets and
introduced a new song, "Bald Headed Man", that he said he
wrote for one fellow in the Bay Area who seems to show up
at all his gigs (you know who you are, Tony.). He
introduced some of his local relations to the crowd, and
genuinely seemed as pleased to be in the Bay Area, as we
were to have him back here.
Thomas performed songs from his latest CD as well as his
1995 release, Come To Lousiana.. He paid tribute to the
older traditional zydeco musicians. He said it was the
diversity of the new and older styles that kept zydeco
music alive and vital today, and that we should respect and
honor the older traditionalists before they pass away. His
own music seems to demonstrate the bridge. His style is
distinctive: long, mid-tempoed dance grooves, with a
traditional accordion style that sometimes throws in some
nouveau zydeco riffs. For my money he is in the top echelon
of zydeco bands when you are looking to dance to exhaustion
and beyond.
Another special part of the evening was the large turn-out.
As is often the case, people often drift in and out of the
dance scene. Thomas's show attracted out a lot of old
friends that haven't been coming around much lately, and it
was a treat to talk to and dance with some favorite dance
partners again.
C. J. Chenier and the Zydeco Blues
Those of us who went to see C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot
Lousiana Band played at Eagle's Hall in Alameda on Friday,
April 12 in a benefit to raise funding for Franklyn
Zywicki's 9th Annual Bay Area Cajun and Zydeco Festival
this fall came home with the zydeco blues. We came looking
for some inspiring zydeco music and dancing and came home
with the blues because it wasn't to be found that night.
The Red Hot Lousiana Band opening with three competent if
uninspiring blues numbers before C.J. came on. The set that
followed was a mix of zydeco in his father, Clifton's,
classic style, the blues, and to-my-ears, early 50s style
swamp rock. C.J. has a fine voice, and puts on a good show,
but, unfortunately, he misjudged the crowd by starting the
evening off with the blues, and then not playing enough
zydeco. Some who attended had seen him several times before
in other venues knew what to expect, but those who hadn't
were disappointed. Several dancers, who showed up mid-way
into the first set, heard the non-zydeco music at the door,
and saw the sparce crowd, and left.
Let's hope the next benefit is more successful both
musically and from an attendance stand-point as it would be
great to have the Marin festival back again.
Filé Serves Up a Rich Gumbo at Eagle's
Hall.
If you were not at Eagle's Hall in Alameda on Friday night,
April 21, you missed a terrific, high energy evening, as
File, rare visitors to the Bay Area, tore up the house with
an exhilirating two sets of original compositions and
traditional Cajun tunes. With keyboard player, David Egan,
adding New Orleans style piano playing to the mix, and the
distinctive, and at times, jazz-flavored fiddle playing of
D'Jalma Garnier, this bands sounds like no other. While I
enjoyed their recent CD, La Vie Marron (The Runaway Life),
listening to it in no way prepared me for seeing this band
in person.
File played to a full house, most of whom stayed until the
band stopped at 12:45 pm, after one encore. The energy in
the crowd was high, and the dancers put on a great show.
The band remarked from the stage that they felt like they
were playing to a home crowd, and that the show put on by
the dancers was the best they'd seen since they'd begun
their recent tour. I spoke briefly to the drummer, Peter
Stevens, during the break. He told me the dancers was great
and that he really enjoyed watching everyone. (What he
actually said was that watching the dancers was more
entertaining than watching the tiles on the roof while
playing, but he started the conversation by saying that we
were great dancers...) In any case, it was apparent that a
great time was had by both the entertainers and the
audience on this particular evening.
Geno Delafose and BeauSoleil Play the Bay
Area.
The week of March 2nd was a busy one for Bay Area Cajun and
Zydeco fans. Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie played
four dates in Northern California, and Michael Doucet avec
BeauSoleil played twice. I was fortunate to catch Geno at
Eagle's Hall in Alameda and BeauSoleil at Great America
Music Hall in San Francisco that week.
Despite being aWednesday night, Geno played to a full
house. Great performers, Geno and the band, played an
energetic set, starting at 9 pm and not taking a break
until 11:30 pm. He was finally thrown off stage at 1AM by
Walter, the Eagle's hall manager, who had to close the
facility.
Friday night at Great America started with a short set by
the Bay Area's Aux Cajunals. BeauSoleil's performance
featured songs from their new CD, L'Amour ou La Folie.
Michael Doucet was in great spirits and, ever the showman,
gave a short introduction to each song. The evening's
highlight for me was when the bass player, Al Tharp, joined
Michael Doucet on fiddle and played some incredible
'dueling fiddle' numbers.
Boozoo Packs the House in Alameda
Feb. 14, 1997.
Boozoo Chavis & the Magic Sounds shared the stage with
Motor Dude Zydeco at the Zydeco Sweetheart's Dance at
Eagle's Hall in Alameda on Friday night, February 14th. and
the joint was jammed! Over 425 fans were in attendance. It
was elbow to elbow on the dance floor - no room for fancy
dance displays this night. Although it was a mild night
outside, the collective heat and humidity from all those
dancers made it feel like a hot summer's night on the
bayou. Trying to get to the back of the room for something
to drink was a major ordeal. For those of you who have not
yet been dancing at zydeco clubs like Slim's or Richard's
in Louisiana, you just got a true taste of what those
places are like when a hot band is playing.
The evening opened with Motor Dude Zydeco playing an
incredibly inspired set. The gauntlet was thrown for Boozoo
to top it, and he was equal to the challenge. Boozoo has
written many songs that are standards in the zydeco
repetoire. His 2 1/2 hour set reminded us of just how
significant his contribution is. And, not content to rest
on his laurels, Boozoo also played a new composition which
had become the theme song for many of us who attended the
Zydeco festival last year: You're Gonna Look Like A Monkey
(when you get old). Catchy tune, hilarious lyrics, "Monkey"
is included on his new album, Hey Do Right.
For those of us in the Bay Area who hear local bands
playing sets covering versions of songs by newer musicians
such as Keith Frank and Beau Jocque as well as the older
generation including Clifton Chenier, John Delafose and
Boozoo, it was really a treat to hear one of the originals
at work in an authentic style. One comment throughout the
evening was that the songs seemed short. For perspective on
this, think about where this music came from and how it is
traditionally played and then consider a quote I once heard
attributed to Boozoo:: "Well, the older folks like to
dance, too".
As much as the crowd enjoyed the night, the feedback is
that Boozoo was blown away by the local audience as well.
He was said to comment that he never saw a place so crowded
with the entire audience dancing and so few standing on the
side-line. Good show, Bay Area!.
Copyright © 1997, Andrea D. Rubinstein